rating. Aye, to be sure! League withness had signified his pleasure, that Lord Wellesley should conduct the formation of the Administration in all its branches, and. should be First Commissioner of the Treasury; and that Lord Moira, Lord Erskine, and Mr. Canning, should be Members of the Cabinet.-That it was probable, that a Cabinet, formed on an enlarged basis, must be extended to the number of twelve or thirteen Members: that the Prince Regent wished Lords Grey and Grenville, on the part of their friends, to recommend for His Royal Highness's approbation the names of four persons, (if the Cabinet should consist of twelve) and of five Persons, (if the Cabinet should consist of thirteen) to be appointed by His Royal Highness to fill such stations in His Councils as might hereafter be arranged.-That His Royal Highness left the selection of the names to Lords Grey and Grenville, without any exception or personal exclusion.— That in completing the new arrangement, the Prince Regent has granted to Lord Wellesley, entire liberty to propose for His Royal Highness's approbation, the names of any persons now occupying stations in His Royal Highness's Councils, or of any other persons.-That if the proposition made to Lords Grey and Grenville, should be accepted as the outline of an arrangement, all other matters would be discussed with the most anxious solicitude to promote harmony and general accommodation. WELLESLEY. 66 the devil against the rights of the people! State Prison, Newgale, MINISTERIAL NEGOCIATIONS. DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED, RELATING TO THE LATE NEGOCIATIONS FOR MAKING A NEW MINISTRY. (Continued from page 832.) May, 1812, were intended by His Royal Highness to constitute the foundation of his Administration.-That His Royal High No. 18.-Lord Grey to Lord Wellesley, dated 2d June, on the Subject of No. 17. My Lord, I lost no time in sending for Lord Grenville, and have communicated to him, since his arrival, the proposal made to me yesterday by your Lordship.We have felt the necessity of a further communication with our friends, and this, I fear, will make it impossible for us to send our final answer to the minute which I had the honour of receiving from your Lordship yesterday evening, till a late hour to-night, or early to-morrow morning.To obviate, however, as far as I can, any inconvenience which might arise from this delay, I think it right to state to your Lordship, that the feeling which I yester(To be continued.) Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent-Garden. VOL. XXII. No. 2.] LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1812. 331 [Price 1s. [34 possess are, when one reflects on them, really terrific; and, if their conduct is not to be investigated, either through the means of the press, or through any other means, what responsibility is there? What check is there? And in what a state are the people who are so much within their power? SUMMARY OF POLITICS. LINCOLN JAIL.-Ou Thursday, the 25th of June, a discussion took place, in the House of Commons, upon the subject of the treatment of the prisoners confined in the Castle, which is the county jail, of Lincoln, to which, as the public will recollect, Mr. FINNERTY -With this preface the reader will, with and Mr. DRAKARD were, sometime ago, the greater advantage, enter with me upon committed by the Judges of the Court of a review of the debate upon Sir Samuel RoKing's Bench (Lord Ellenborough, Judges milly's motion. I shall here insert the Grose, Le Blanc, and Bailey), for the term part of his speech which was most material. of eighteen months, in consequence of trials It is but a very faint sketch of what he said; for LIBEL.- --The discussion here alluded but, it will enable the reader to form a to, arose out of a motion made by Sir Sa- pretty good estimate of the conduct of the muel Romilly, grounded upon a Petition of parties implicated." It appeared," he THOMAS HOULDEN, lately a prisoner said, "that the Petitioner, Thomas Houlfor debt in the jail at Lincoln. The object" den, was brought before a Magistrate, of the motion was to obtain the appoint-" Doctor Caley Illingworth, who on a comment of a committee to inquire into the plaint preferred by the gaoler, ordered grounds of the complaint of the petitioner," the petitioner to be removed from the who complained of ill-treatment on the part" apartment in the prison which he had hiof MERRYWEATHER, the jailer, and "therto occupied, and to be confined, also on the part of some of the magistrates, though but a prisoner for debt, in one of especially one DOCTOR CALEY IL- "the cells appropriated to common felons; LINGWORTH, who, as is now become" (Hear, hear!j-and it further appeared, the fashion in almost every part of the king-" that the petitioner was left to remain dom, is at once a Clergyman and a Justice" closely confined in this cell for eleven days of the Peace.The public will remem-" and nights successively; (hear, hear, ber, that Mr. Finnerty presented a petition" hear!);-and it also appeared, that durto parliament against the conduct of this ing that period he was denied the use of jailer and the magistrates. He was shut" pen, ink, and paper, and that no friend up in a place the stench of which alone was "whatever was permitted to have access to enough to kill any man. He was commit-"him. (Hear, hear!)-What the mighty ted to this distant jail by Lord Ellenbo-" offence was that had called down upon rough, and Judges Grose, Le Blanc, and him the indignant severity of this Doctor Bailey, on the 7th of February, 1811, for" Caley Illingworth should hereafter be ex18 months, for a libel upon CASTLE- plained, and it should be also satisfactoREAGH. He was shut up in a place de- " rily proved, that this confinement in a stined for felons; and the stench of the "cell for eleven days and nights, would place was such as to be alone sufficient to not have even then been put a stop to, deprive a man of life in the course of a few" had it not been for the unexpected intermonths. By his courage and perseverance "vention of a certain circumstance, which he has not only bettered his own condition," could also be very intelligibly explained. but that of others also, and is now, I hope," But he could not help asking what was in a fair way of doing the public a still" the authority under which the Magistrate greater service.The conduct of the ma- meant to shelter such an act of oppresgistrales, as they are called, but of the Jus- sion? (Hear, hear!)-He knew of none tices of the Peace, as they ought to be call-" (hear, hear!)—the common law, he ed, stands in need of investigation more was confident, gave none; but it had than that of almost any other description of" been contended for, he understood, that men in authority. The powers they now "all this authority was derivable to the 66 66 66 B 66 "worth, who could not find sufficient in "the statement of the Gaoler to justify the And here he "could not help congratulating the House upon this instance, among numberless "others, of the great benefits resulting from public discussion. (Hear!) He had "often voted in minorities of even six and "sixteen, where the discussion upon the "question on which they were out-voted had, by becoming public, led to a cor 66 "Magistrate under the operation of the "31st of the King; he had read the Act "attentively, and had found in it no such exercise of power he wished to resort to, "authority. (Hear!).-It did give cer- "and expressed his concern to the Prisoner "tain powers in the control of Houses of "that he could not punish him. (Hear!) "Correction to the Magistracy, but such "This regret, however, could not have "prisons as the castle of Lincoln, county "been of long duration, for he was again gaols were, he contended, the prisons of" brought before this Dr. Caley Illingworth, the Sheriff's, and not of the Magistracy. "and was sentenced, in two days after, to "(Hear, hear!).—If this power had been close confinement in a felon's cell. Here "given by that Act, it would have been" he remained eleven days and nights, and given in plain and direct words; and if "might have remained indefinitely long,, "the power be not given, it was in vain" had it not been for the arrival of the in"to talk to that House of what this or that "telligence of a conversation which had "lawyer thought of the construction that" taken place in that House on the subject, "might be put on the Act, when it was" of Mr. Finnerly's Petition, complaining "of "evident to any man who read it, that no "of abuses in that prison, on the part of "such construction was within the mean- "the same Gaoler. On the arrival of this "ing of the Legislature, at the time it was news, the Petitioner was immediately "enacted. (Hear, hear!).-But as to the "discharged from his cell. "offence of the petitioner, it was simply "this-He had refused to be supplied "with a bed by the gaoler, and wished one "of his own to be brought into the prison;" "this was no indulgence. He had a right "to this accommodation by virtue of the "32d of George II. chap.er 28, section 4, "a provision obviously made with the view" rection of the abuses to which it related. "of protecting the prisoner from the rapa"city and extortion of the gaoler, who (Hear!) He thought that these circum"might otherwise insist upon his own price" stances did lay grounds for suspecting "for an accommodation so indispensable." both extremely corrupt motives in the "The petitioner, however, was threatened "Gaoler, and most criminal connivance in "with being turned over into the pauper's "the Magistrate. (Hear!) The Honour"able Gentleman who cheered him would "ward, in case he brought in his own bed. "He was then thrown into a room contain- "have every opportunity, and no doubt ❝ing seven beds and thirteen prisoners. "It was in summer-the weather uncom"monly hot, and the room very close. "To this room were two doors-an inner "and an outer grated door. One night, of the Magistrates, in the presence, too, "after the Petitioner had been sent to this "of another Magistrate, told Mr. Finnerty the inner door was closed as well "that he had heard that in other prisons, room, as the outer, and thus the usual opening" prisoners, by paying for them, could get "between the room and the outer door was "better apartments than others; and that "closed. It is not improbable that theif he gave three guineas a week, he might "Petitioner (though it is not so stated) get better; and that on Mr. Finnerly re"might have expressed, in strong language, "monstrating that he had not the means to "his indignant sense of such an act of op- pay so high a rent, the other Magistrate "pression directed against himself, because observed, that he understood a subscrip he did not succumb to the extortion of tion was going forward which might the Gaoler. (Hear, hear!) Be that as "enable him to do so. (Hear, hear!) He it might, he and the remaining thirteen could not forget that the Member for 66 innocent as well as guilty, shut up "Lincolnshire, who came down prepared " in this room; the usual circulation of air "to answer every other allegation, was "denied them, all on account of the sup- obliged to suffer that to remain wholly "posed contumely of one (hear!), and in" uncontradicted. (Hear, hear; hear!)— "consequence of what then passed between" He had heard of a meeting of the Magis "the Petitioner and the Gaoler, the former❝trates on the first of May, who portioned was brought before Dr. Caley Illing- "out the nine sleeping rooms for debtors in were, come prepared to vindicate both Gaoler "and Magistrate; but he could not forget "what had been stated in Mr. Finnerty's petition, and never contradicted, that one 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 responsibility; or, at least, it is so difficult to fix it, that the object must generally be defeated. This is not the case with the Sheriff, who is one; who is known; and who cannot shelter himself under the vote of a majority of colleagues.- Then, again, what are, or, at least, what may be, these magistrates? Why, any man who has a hundred pounds a year fless than the wages of a butler in some families) arising out of lands, tithes, or certain offices. Any such man may be a Justice of the Peace; and, as to who are the Justices of the Peace, all I shall say is this: that they are appointed by the Lord Chancellor upon the and that the Lord Chancellor and the Lords Lieutenant are appointed by the Minister. 66 the following manner: seven to those well as commit; and, if their authority "who could pay for their beds, and the were to extend to the interior of the jails, remaining two to all the rest that could they would become the finishers as well as "not pay. (Hear!) By an order of those the beginners of the law.―The Justices "Magistrates, places and cells had been of the Peace are numerous; they, in all appropriated for refractory and disorder cases of prisons, will necessarily be many; ly debtors. He knew not the authority they are, too, a fluctuating body; some are "under which they made such an order, dropping off and others coming on conti"and he spoke as a lawyer. (Hear, hear!)nually. In such a body there can be no "He stated also, that the Gaoler of Lincoln "Castle had a fixed salary of 300l. a year, independent of all other emoluments. "He stated also a case of a debtor in the agonies of death, who died in the night time before any one dared to disturb the repose of the Gaoler. He did not say "that the debtor might not have died, "whether a medical man had been timely "called in or not. It had been lately said, It had been lately said, "that the gaol was in an insurrection; if So, it was an insurrection of complaint. "But the prisoners had addressed their complaints in the humblest and the most "respectful language. Such gaols and 66 prisoners were, he contended, the She-recommendation of the Lords Lieutenant, "riff's, whose duty it was, not to ride on a caparisoned horse into the assize town be"fore the Judge, with white staffs and trumpets sounding, but to consult the ease and comforts of his prisoners (for his they were) as far as that comfort was con"sistent with their confinement. For"tunately those new lights had not broken out when the great Howard undertook "the duty of Sheriff. He then concluded "with moving for the Select Committee." -Here is a scene developed! Here are facts to be proclaimed to the world! After expressing my sincere thanks to Sir Samuel Romilly for his conduct upon this occasion, in which I shall, I am sure, be joined by every man in England, who is not a tyrant in his nature, or who does not thrive or hope to thrive, under tyrants; and, after having begged the reader to re-or sixteen, in the House, he had seen the flect on what a character these facts are calculated to give this nation in the world; after this I proceed to offer a remark or two upon Sir Samuel's speech before I go on to the rest of the debate. He here says, (and he speaks as a lawyer) that the magisirates have no right to meddle with the management of prisoners in county jails. This I lately said upon the reason of the thing; and I am exceedingly glad to see it confirmed by such authority. There are many reasons why magistrates should have nothing to do with the treatment of prisoners. In the first place, they are, in many cases, judges; they pass sentence as 66 -The Sheriff, too, is, indeed, now-adays, appointed by the Minister. Former ly he was not. He was, in former times, elected by the people. However, he is generally, as yet, a man of considerable fortune in the county; he is known; he is conspicuous; and, at any rate, he is one and has a name, and, therefore, in some way or other he can be made responsible, which alone is a reason quite sufficient for preferring his superintendence and autherity, in this case, to those of Justices of the Peace.Sir Samuel Romilly congratu laled the House on the effect which its conversations had produced upon a former occasion; and observed, that, frequently, after having been left in a minority of six object of the discussion obtained in the silent correction of the abuse complained of. -I do not think this a subject of congratulalion. I think it, on the contrary, a thing of which, if true, that House ought to be ashamed. What, shall a body of legislators and representatives of the people reject, at the nod of the minister, an application to redress a grievance; shall they vote almost unanimously against the request of the ap plicant; and shall they, when they afterwards see the minister or some of his understrappers, redress the grievance themselves; shall they look upon this as matter of congratulation? The people, indeed, for, I am persuaded, the public will look upon it as a very meritorious act; and, if Mr. Finnerty was the mover, upon this occasion, as he appears to have been, he has thereby acquired a new claim to the thanks of the country, however impatient Mr. Charles Adams may be to hear his name pronounced accompanied with any thing in the way of commendation.-Lord Častlereagh spoke after Mr. Chaplin; but, I shall notice his speech hereafter. We will now hear Mr. Ellison, who, it appears, is also a Colonel, and who "warmly disapHe was per "fectly willing to agree that Magistrates "ought not to abuse the powers and autho"rities with which they were vested; but "he would say, that he had been twenty"five years an acting Magistrate of the county, and he had served the office of "Sheriff, during all which period he had "never known of any such abuse. He had "not been an inattentive inquirer into this subject; nay, he would even say, that he "had been since last year a most diligent inquirer. He was convinced the inter"ference of the House would be produc"tive of no good, but, on the contrary, of the sufferers in the case, and those who have voted in such minorities as Sir Samuel mentioned, might be congratulated on this score; but, according to my notions, the circumstance was not at all calculated to do honour to the House. The only persons who attempted to speak in justification of the conduct of Merryweather and Doctor Caley Illingworth and the other Justices, were, as appears by the report, MR. CHAPLIN and MR. ELLISON, the former of whom was, as the reader will bear in mind, the person who brought in the famous Spilsby Poor-"proved of the motion. House Bill, which was demolished by the opposition made to it by Sir Samuel Romilly and others; but principally by Sir Samuel Romilly. By that Bill, certain persons to be called Directors were empowered to cause the poor to be flogged in certain cases at their discretion. But, to return to the subject before us, Mr. Chaplin and Mr. Ellison, both Justices of the Peace in the county of Lincoln, opposed Sir" Samuel's motion for a Committee; and, as I am very anxious that the public should have all the means of being correctly informed upon every part of this subject, I will insert the whole of what these gentle-" infinile mischief. The speeches which men said, as I find it stated in the report of "went out of the House on the subject inthe Morning Chronicle of the 26th of June." Alamed and unsettled the minds of people "Mr. CHAPLIN said, that he was con- "throughout the country, and produced "fident that when an inquiry was gone nothing but a spirit of discontent. He "into, the result would be favourable to "would refer it to the mind of every wise "the Gaoler and the Magistracy.-[We" man who heard him, if this motion would "endeavoured to follow the Honourable" have any tendency to allay that wild "Member, but he was quite inaudible in spirit which was now walking about. "the gallery.]-He believed this petition" Laugh).-With respect to the case "would never have come into the hands of " mentioned by an Honourable and Learn"the Honourable Member by whom it was "ed Gentleman (Mr. Brougham), what 66 presented, unless for the solicitation of a were the real facts of the case? It apperson whom he would not name. (Al-peared from the evidence given by Mr. "luding, we presume, to Finnerty)." 66 66 "Evans, the surgeon who attended on the "hard liver, and laboured under the dis But, pray, Mr. Chaplin, of what importance" unfortunate man, that he had been a was this circumstance? What signified it to the merits of the case? The question" was not, how the petition came into Sir Samuel Romilly's hands; but whether the allegations in it were true. This was the question. But, one may notice here, that," if it be true, that it required the intervention of a gentleman like Mr. Finnerty to get the petition forward, there is the greater necessity for attending to it, seeing that the poor oppressed creatures are supposed to be wholly unable to get a petition forward" themselves. Mr. Chaplin ought, in jus-" tice, to have named the person who was the cause of getting the petition forward;" 66 ease of erisypelas. The surgeon said he " left him on the night on which he died, "satisfied that from the state of mortifica"tion he was in, he would not live till morning; and when he called in the "morning, he very naturally asked if the poor man was not yet dead. Mr. Evans complained of the conduct of Mr. Fin"nerty, and another Gentleman, who, he "said, went so far as even to threaten to strike him, when giving his evidence before the Coroner. He was sure the Ho"nourable and Learned Gentleman had stated nothing which he did not believe; 66 |